For Those With Eyes to See – sermon on April 30, 2017
Luke 24: 13-35 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Sermon: For Those With Eyes to See by Rev. Doreen Oughton
Here we are in the third Sunday of the Easter season, and yet our Gospel reading has us still on that very first Easter Sunday. Last week you heard about the disciples locked away in the upper room, but that very same day, two followers of Jesus have gone – headed to Emmaus. It’s been three days since their teacher was killed, three days since their dreams of the redemption of Israel have been dashed. They are still “processing” everything, as we might say today. As they walk, they talk – not just about the amazing week they’d had – part of the crowd waving palm branches and crying out “Hosanna!” They’d heard the amazing teachings of Jesus, saw him overturn the tables of the money changers, listened to him interact with the Scribes and Pharisees. Perhaps they only heard later about the arrest, but joined other followers along the Via Dolorosa, horrified to see what they had done to this holy man. They’d seen the afternoon darkness fall as Jesus hung on the cross, experienced some of the commotion at his death – earthquake, the tearing of the Temple curtain. Then they had the quiet of their Sabbath to do nothing but sit and think, mourn and grieve.
And they are processing the events of this very, very strange day. It started early in the morning with some of the women saying they’d seen angels, some of the men confirming that indeed the stone had been rolled away and the body gone. As they are talking, perhaps sobbing the words out, a man joins them, asking what they are discussing. They tell their story to this sympathetic listener, and he takes it all in. Maybe there is something in the way he listens that allows them to go deeper, to tap into those powerful experiences they’d had. Perhaps their grief was beginning to be tempered with the hope they’d felt, the vitality of the movement they had been part of. Perhaps in their telling, and in their travel companion’s generous listening, they were primed for what came next.
The stranger takes all that they have said and offers a new framework for processing the events. He reminds them of the words of the prophets, asserting that they are words to be taken to heart, words to be trusted – that there was a Messiah, that Israel would be redeemed, that the suffering of the Messiah had to come before the glory, but don’t forget about the glory. Don’t stand still on the journey to glory at the point of suffering! They are heartened by his words, and when he moves on after they reach their destination, they implore him to stay, and he does. He takes the bread, gives thanks, breaks it and passes it to them as their eyes are opened to who it is that is in their midst. And poof! Just like that he is gone. They don’t wonder if they’ve gone crazy, they don’t doubt this experience, having just been reminded of all those scriptures concerning the Messiah. Instead they hurry back the 7 miles to Jerusalem to find their friends and join in the celebration that Christ lives.
As I read through this scripture passage, I kept thinking of another passage, another teaching by Jesus, where he says, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.” What does it mean to be “gathered in his name?” Does it require that his name is mentioned? Does it mean Jesus shows up wherever two or three affirm in their mind that Jesus is the divine son of God? Or is there something else to it? A can be more than what your parents decided to call you. It can say something about your essence. W-A-T-E-R does not refer to letters on a page, or sounds transmitted through the air, but refers to this – wet, fluid, quenching stuff. Jesus, or Yoshua, the name means so much. I believe that to gather in his name does not mean simply saying it, but gathering with a sense of his essence – his light and truth and love and mercy. Were these travelers gathered in that spirit? Not so far as I can tell. They were defeated, grieving, confused, perhaps angry. And still, there Jesus was among them, guiding them, teaching them, leading him to that place of light and truth and love and mercy. And then finally, in their eagerness to share their lodging and their food, in the spirit of generosity and hospitality, their eyes are open to Christ in their midst.
Jesus teaches that where two or three are gathered in his name, there he is among them. If we think of gathering in his name as gathering in his spirit, we might not even need to be with another Christian for him to show up. What if we just interact with everyone we meet in the spirit of light and truth and love and mercy? Or what if we take in what the scriptures have promised about a redeemer, and trust those promises? Might that be enough for Yoshua to show up? I wonder how many opportunities to see encounter him we have passed up? How often do we treat others with suspicion or contempt, judgment or indifference?
While I was home sick last week, I watched several episodes of the TV show Catfish. (explain). I was struck by the sense of loneliness and low self-worth of the people who perpetrated the fraud. They believed their real self was unacceptable, unlovable, and often this belief was based on very real rejection by others. They were different, and had received the message loud and clear that their differences were not okay. What they did was wrong, and I love that the hosts of the show always ask them to be accountable for that, to recognize the pain they caused by their deception. They are asked to stop the behavior. But the hosts never lose sight of their humanity, of the truth that they are people worthy of love. I believe that Jesus shows up in the midst of Nev and Max as they gather in his spirit of light and truth and mercy and love. I have no idea of their religious affiliation, but I personally do not think Jesus only shows up for Christians. If we make the mistake of believing that, we will pass right by him over and over again. We will miss him in Walmart and at work. We will overlook him at the doctor’s office and the DMV. We will try to beep him out of the way as we rush down the road.
Jesus lives, and is among us today. Carry his name in your heart and you will find he is there whenever you are with other people. Try not to be afraid or impatient with these other people. Their presence matters to God, to Christ. In front of you always is a person of great worth, a sister, a brother, a beloved child of God. But if you scared or impatient or even feeling hateful, you can still call on the name of Jesus to help you – to open your eyes to the promises of God. He shows up even in our fear, even in our grief and anger and hopelessness. He is not only among us, he is within you. Is not your heart burning with this truth? Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed. Amen.
